Small Companies Play Big Role in Robocall Scourge, but Remedies Are Elusive

‘Carriers that knowingly allow the origination of billions of illegal robocalls should be held accountable,’ says a robocall-tracing group

Americans have received billions of robocalls and shelled out untold sums to scammers pretending to be IRS representatives, health-care providers, government officials and others. But so far, lawmakers have had a hard time making robocalls stop. WSJ's Spencer Macnaughton explains why. Photo: Rob Alcaraz/The Wall Street Journal

The billions of illegal robocalls inundating Americans are being facilitated largely by small telecom carriers that transmit calls over the internet, industry officials say, but authorities are at odds over what—if anything—they can do to stop them.

These telecom carriers typically charge fractions of a cent per call, making their money on huge volume. Their outsize role in the robocall scourge has become apparent as large telecom companies get better at tracing robocalls to their source, spurring calls for regulators to...